Burn My Dread
by tetsuia
Summary: Death is inevitable. The Fall will end in everyone's demise. Minato's final battle with the true Nyx from his perspective. Major spoilers for the game ending.


Burn My Dread

A/N: Burn My Dread is entirely spoiler. Please stop reading if you have not finished up Persona 3. You have been warned.

Disclaimer: Atlus owns Persona 3 and other things...blah blah blah...my muse is currently being bored. I also took some creative liberties in the writing of this scene.

This story is written in the perspective of the main character (Minato Arisato in the Persona 3 Manga). Thank you, hope you enjoy the read, and please review.

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I was by myself in an abyss of total darkness, but I wasn't alone for long.

An enormous sphere of light suddenly illuminated the void. Crystal veins nested the luminescent orb, the structure looming over me like a god over his apes. This was the true Nyx, not the philosophical, while formidable, being we fought earlier. This Nyx was every bit as omnipotent as Ryoji said it would be.

However, armed with the World Arcana entrusted to me, I believed that I would prevail. Sure, I might have been slightly naive, but I thought I had the power to prevent the fall. That illusion was shattered when I saw glowing red collecting on Nyx's veins like morning dew on the tip of a leaf. As I felt the maleficence of that single collecting drop.

That feeling was more than I could bear; my body's instincts told me to run, but I was rooted in place from sheer fear.

Time slowed as a single blood-red drop fell, its silent malediction deafening in the quiet.

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_"Your death is determined."_

_"The Fall will happen."_

_"Everyone you have come to know will die."_

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The drop of inevitable death when it touched the ground exploded in a burst of dark red. The wave of crimson death went through my body and I felt it pull at something within me like a dog being dragged by its master.  


My vision darkened and my body felt light as it slowly teetered towards the ground. I knew I had failed the moment my body hit the floor as death dragged me away...

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_A familiar voice echoed in my head. Memories of school, a contract, and midnight talks slowly flowed into my empty head..._

_In my mind's eye, the back of a person with odd raven-like hair stood in front of my collapsed form, a yellow scarf hung loosely in the absence of motion and wind._

_"I told you that I'll try to help as best I can..."_

_I didn't need to see his face to know that he was smiling._

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I opened my eyes with a jerk, the warm floor beckoning my weak yet unharmed body back to sleep. However, I knew I couldn't do that...

So again, I stood defiantly...into another wave of peaceful crimson death...

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_Voices entered into my ears, all familiar. A vision of people struggling to stand up on top of a eerie green tower entered my mind's eye..._

_A young, rather short, brown-haired kid struggled to stand along with an older white-haired male. The kid, finally getting to his feet, turned his head towards the white-haired male, asking with anguish._

_"There's nothing we can do?"_

_The white-haired male, knees shaking from the effort it took to stand, turned his head to the brunette momentarily before yelling skyward._

_"Don't give up! We have to believe in him."_

_A female with long red hair slowly stood as well, a thin rapier clattering onto the ground...her hands gripped in prayer._

_"Give him strength! Take my life if you must!"_  
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Air entered my aching lungs as my eyes slowly opened once more. I stood once more, a hand holding onto my sword arm. The air seemed to glow golden around, reinvigorating my body and spirit. My eyes stared at the crimson glow collecting around Nyx. My fear was there...but it stopped shackling me into inaction. I no longer felt like destiny was drawing the curtains on the fate of the world. I had hope.

Crimson red tore around me and I uselessly braced for the impact, closing my eyes as I waited for the familiar tug of something within my body.

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_"A female brunette wearing an abnormal amount of pink slowly got up to her feet, the effort draining on her body. With a look to the redhead, she turned her head to the disfigured moon._

_"Yeah! I'm willing to risk mine too!"_

_A green-haired girl had also gotten up to her feet along with a guy wearing a baseball cap. The girl had intense panic written on her face while the goatee-donning male shot a defiant glare into the sky._

_"He's going to face it all by himself!"_

_The guy replied with a yell on his own with an overly dramatic movement of his arm._

_"NO! He's not alone! I won't let him die!"  
_

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I felt the impact of the wave crash into my body, but I didn't lose consciousness this time. Using the sword as support, I continued to stand. I opened my eyes to find faint tendrils of golden light illuminating the darkness. They surrounded me with an indescribable love and warmth before disappearing...all of that subtle strength being transferred to me.

The aches of my body faded away while the fog in my mind cleared away.

Ken. Akihiko. Mitsuru. Yukari. Fuuka. Junpei.

They're all still down there...they're relying on me...to win.

Determination boiled in my blood, my dread burnt away with my doubts. This was a fight that I couldn't lose...simply because I had to win. Needed to win.

Crimson red started collecting around Nyx again, but I stood my ground without fear. The drop of death fell and exploded in an eerie rhythmic motion, but the wave simply went through me; its familiar pull on my soul had vanished along with my doubts. I heard familiar voices again as my line of sight was superimposed with another vision.

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_Koromaru started howling at the moon, his hind legs firmly placed on the ground. The howl appeared to give strength to the final figure still struggling to get up._

_Mechanical joints screeching in process, Aegis slowly got up to her nonexistent feet._

_Smoke whistled out from her "ears" as she too stood along with the members of SEES. Her defiant human yell cut across the night._

_"I won't allow this world to be destroyed!"_

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The vision faded along with the voices, but an odd weight on my shoulder replaced their strange presence. I turned my head away from Nyx...

Shinji.

Hazy as he was, I was sure it was Shinji. With the black beanie on his head, the ax resting on his shoulder, and the maroon coat he dragged about everywhere that would make Ms. Toriumi scream "Punk" at the top of her lungs.

The man closed his eyes, a smug smirk appearing on his lips. His confident voice echoed through the silent chamber.

"Alright. Let's do this."

He glowed for a moment before turning into tendrils of gold. His strength pooled into me like the strength of all the others. I turned around once more to face Nyx, my eyes fixated on its simple form.

I was ready.

Guided by an unknown cue, I dropped my sword and pointed my index finger skyward.

My world went white as I felt myself being pulled away.

It was done. I was done.

The Fall had been prevented.

Thank you everyo...


End file.
